Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising Movie Review

Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising Movie Review

New neighbors, gender-swap, bigger stakes, less characterization. Someone took the script for the first one, went Search and Replace, set to bold every gag, deleted the riffing, added feminism which it occasionally forgets its position on albeit it remains a vocal advocate, and this is what we got. Far funnier and more consistently hilarious. Not as good of a film, but that was never the goal with these two...soon to be three...? This makes a call that greatly benefits it: the setting is simply no longer the real world. Consequences are a thing of the past. Bones don't break, cops don't show, and so on. This allows them to be as crazy as the trailers suggest, in spite of about half of the footage in there not being in the final cut.

The girls get to dish it out, now even more so. Stupidity has grown rapidly. Teddy(Ephron, who remains one of the best parts) is in the middle. You know how he was pretty psychopathic before? Well, this time, he has the full meltdown. It practically opens the film. He just wants to be valued! And he totally knows stuff! Not much, but some, and it's remarkably specific! This does suffer from the writers, all 5 of them, clearly not quite knowing, well, women. Why they didn't have them grab a pen... well, there's that sexism again. Thus, there's a lot of stereotyping going on there, and not a lot of depth. The climax is genuinely a fizzling out. Resolution is forced, albeit it is at least there...that's one of the first things this admits.

'A Laugh A Minute' Has Never Been So Relevant

Following the unprecedented success of 2014's Neighbours, here we have Neighbours 2! Comedy sequels have a 'great' track record as well producing gems such as The Hangover 2, Little Fockers and the absolute gem Big Momma's House 3. I'm joking if you can't see through my sarcasm. General speaking, comedy sequels are garbage and fail to capture the magic of the original.

However, this is an exception. Not only does Neighbours 2 capture the humour of the original, but greatly improves upon it. I personally did not find the original Neighbours terrifically entertaining - I thought it was quite bland and the gaps between the jokes were too large.

Neighbours 2 is incredibly funny from start to finish - producing wall to wall jokes that hit more often than not. That being said - there are some jokes that don't fly, but this would be applicable to most modern comedies.

Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne are as brilliant and convincing as ever as Mother and Father duo - and produce some truly gut busting laughs along the way. Zac Efron is his usual charismatic self, and his on screen demeanor is impressive. It seems as though he will not be leaving the adult comedy scene for a while. The other cast member including new addition Chloe Grace Moretz are brilliant - and add a lot more to the film than the male cast members from the original.

The film also has a very interesting sociological agenda - primarily criticizing the sexist and derogatory structure of the frat system in the USA. It sports a little more concern and brains than most modern comedies, and it really is welcome return to form.

In the end, Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising will make you laugh, cry, and cringe consistently all at the same time, and I can guarantee you'll leave the theater with an ear to ear smile on your face.